The Vault
by Simply-Cath
Summary: Horatio is locked in a bank vault overnight with a wounded Ryan. As Wolfe's condition worsens, secrets will emerge.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Vault

Author: Simply Cath

Rating: PG-13

Content: Some violence and a bit of bad language.

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters or the franchise. Not making any money off this and it's a work of total fiction.

Summary: Horatio is locked in a bank vault with a wounded Ryan.

Notes: Takes place a day or two after "A Sheep in Wolfe's Clothing." I thought Ryan got treated a bit unfairly so I decided to resolve that by ... well treating him a little more unfairly, I guess *G*. This is my first trip into the fandom. Enjoy.

The Vault

By: Catherine

Dusk or dawn, the Miami sun never failed to make him squint a little. Ryan grabbed his case and locked up his car, sprinting into the bank. He carefully schooled his expression, trying not to show any pain; ugh, there was nothing worse than having sore ribs. He spotted his coworkers by the vault and trotted over, doing his best to ignore the looks that Eric and Calleigh shot at him. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Attempted robbery. Two gunmen came in right at closing, got the vault open, but the tellers managed to pull the alarm. Perps shot them both. One didn't make it and the other's in surgery. Cops interrupted the robbery." Frank gestured to the dead man inside the vault. "We're canvassing for the other guy."

Ryan's eyes were drawn not to the body, but to the frantic movements of the coroner. "So what's the problem?"

"The problem, Mr. Wolfe," Horatio began, staring at the body. "Is that the vault is programmed to seal every night at eight pm."

"Two minutes from now." Eric sounded disgusted. "Not enough time to get the body out and we'll lose any time-sensitive evidence."

"Can't the manager shut it down?" Ryan winced.

Calleigh shook her head. "It'd take a few hours to do that anyway."

Ryan spoke before he could stop himself. "Not like they shut the air off in there, right? I'll stay I and process the scene." He shrugged. "I could use the OT."

"I'll give you a hand, Mr. Wolfe." Horatio said, grabbing his kit and stepping inside.

Ryan would have said something, but the massive door had already begun to close. He picked up his case and slid inside, trying not to wince at the ominous clang that trapped them both. He gritted his teeth, tossed his sport coat aside and got to work.

Eric stared at the door, then snorted. "Can you believe Wolfe? Probably trying to suck up."

"Had to be done, does it really matter?" She reached over and flicked on a monitor, revealing Ryan and Horatio inside the vault. She was surprised by the audio as Horatio asked Ryan to take crime scene photos while Caine processed the body. "Almost like a reality show," she smirked.

"Trapped in a vault with Wolfe for nine hours? H can have it."

"Be nice." Calleigh smacked his shoulder lightly. "Come on, we've got a crime scene of our own to process."

Jason gripped his knife and wiped the sweat from his brow. Christ, how had this all gone so wrong? It was supposed to be a quick job, grab the cash and run; but that asshole Dennis decided he wanted to get into the vault, totally out of the blue! Now he was dead, Billy was gone and here he was, trapped with two cops inside a goddamned bank vault. Okay, he only had one chance to get out of here. Switching the knife to his other hand, Jason advanced towards the guy crouched over Dennis' body.

As Ryan set down the last marker, he couldn't help but appreciate the simplicity of a crime scene like this. Normally, the vault was impeccable, so as a result, Ryan knew that every disturbance told a part of the story. Each open drawer or pile of cash filled a gap in their narrative. He straightened up, grimacing in pain. Damn, now he was going to miss that doctor's appointment tomorrow. Oh well, wasn't like there was much they could do for bruised ribs anyway. He shrugged to himself and took a few pictures.

Once he was finished, he snapped the cover back on the lens and shut off his camera. Grabbing his kit, Ryan started back over to Horatio. "H, I've..." His eyes widened when he saw the man advancing on Horatio. Wolfe reacted on instinct. He dropped his case and sprinted forward just as Horatio started to rise. "Suspect on location!" The words tumbled out as Ryan's mouth slammed into Caine at full speed. Wolfe gasped at a sudden burst of pain.

Horatio stumbled, knocked off balance. He didn't think, only reacted. He caught a glint of metal and fired his weapon through his jacket, hitting the suspected between the eyes. Blood had begun leaking through the hole before he hit the ground.

"Mr. Wolfe, are you all right?" Horatio straightened and made his way over to Ryan. He got there just in time to catch the younger man as he began to fall. "Mr. Wolfe--" His words trailed off as he saw the handle of a knife sticking out of Ryan's abdomen.

*******

Eric set down his phone. "Frank says they caught the second guy."

"That's good to know." Calleigh packed up the last of her samples, then winced as she straightened up. The case was pretty cut and dry, especially now that all the suspects were accounted for, but that didn't mean they could afford to slack off.

She blinked when she heard Ryan's voice coming from the monitor and her heart leapt into her throat as she heard those three terrifying words "Suspect on location!" The gunshot that followed sent her running to the monitor, with Eric close on her heels.

"Oh my god," she breathed, as she watched Horatio prop Ryan up against the wall in a sitting position. "Oh god, he's got--"

Eric's jaw set into a strong, determined line. "We've got to get them out of there now." He turned away, whipping out his cellphone.

_Seven hours_, Calleigh thought; _seven more hours_.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the kind reviews everyone!

Disclaimer in Part One.

If you want to put this story somewhere, please get my permission first.

******

Ryan's breathing was quick and unsteady as he pressed a hand to his stomach. "H--" he gasped.

"You're going to be all right, Mr. Wolfe." Horatio said quietly. "I'll make sure of that, but I'm going to need you to stay calm for me. Can you do that?"

Wolfe nodded, resting the back of his head against the wall. It took a lot of concentration, but he managed to regulate his breathing down to something that felt close to normal. "I'm fine," he murmured. "I'll be okay, but you should," he winced, "finish processing the scene." His gaze went over to the man Horatio had shot. "You don't wanna lose the evidence." Ryan winced, trying to stretch his legs into a more comfortable position, but gave up at the pain that surged up in his torso.

"Take it easy, Ryan," Horatio said quickly. "The scene can wait."

"It can't," Ryan licked his lips, trying to stay focused and detached, but that was kind of hard when you were suddenly part of the crime scene. "'s not bleeding a lot. I think.... don't think it hit any arteries." He turned his hand over, wincing at the blood, but trying to focus his thoughts; arterial blood was very bright, was that bright enough?

"Mr. Wolfe, I need you to keep your hand there for me, okay?" Caine placed the other man's hand against the wound.

"You really think I'm gonna make it out of here, H?" Ryan asked tightly, gritting his teeth as he stared up at the ceiling."

"Mr. Wolfe, I don't think," Horatio said. "I know."

Ryan gritted his teeth. "Then you should process the rest of the scene."

If the situation hadn't been so dire, Horatio would have smiled. "All right, Mr. Wolfe, but I need you to do something for me." He gestured upward. "I need you to count those tiles in the ceiling for me. It's very important for you to tell me how many there are and you have to count loud so I can hear you. Can you do that?"

Ryan nodded, understanding the motivation behind his request. "Sure."

"All right, Mr. Wolfe," Horatio said as he stood up and began to get to work. "Remember, I need to hear you."

******

Eric slammed his phone shut in disgust.

"What's wrong?" Calleigh asked. "When is the safe cracker getting here?"

Eric snorted. "It's going to take a half hour for the guy to get here and at least another six for him to cut through. Hell, by that time, the safe will open on its own."

"You've got to be kidding me." Calleigh ran a hand through her hair. "There's got to be some kind of emergency procedure in place for a situation like this."

"No, because nobody ever expected this kind of thing to happen." Eric slapped the wall, as if it was the source of his frustration. "I can't just sit here; there's gotta be something I can do."

Calleigh was silent for a moment. "You can drop the evidence off at the lab." She spoke quickly, before he could object. "Look, it's like you said, we can't do anything else right now. It'll stay here and let you know if anything changes."

The sound of Wolfe's soft, yet shaky counting filled the air as Delko debated his options. "I'll be right back. You call me if anything happens, okay?" He didn't wait for a response before he grabbed their kits and headed for the door.

******

"One f-forty eight," Ryan shifted his hand a little bit, then hissed in pain. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the sting to fade.

Horatio took the last sample and placed it in the evidence bag. He looked over his shoulder. "Are you all right, Mr. Wolfe?" He packed the bag away and returned to the other man's side once again. The bloody stain on Ryan's shirt had grown noticeably wider and his hands were coated in blood. Wolfe's eyes were open, but his head tilted upward, as if he was trying to avoid looking at the wound. "Ryan," he said softly, but firmly. 'Ryan, I need you to look at me."

"H," Ryan murmured through tightly clenched teeth. "If I don't... if I can't... you gotta explain to Eric and Calleigh. You have to tell them why I--"

"Ryan," Horatio said firmly. "Ryan, look at me." It took nearly a minute for Wolfe to focus on him. "Mr. Wolfe, I'm not going to tell them anything, because you are going to tell them yourself. Do you understand?"

Wolfe nodded, then gasped loudly, his knuckles clenching convulsively.

Out of the corner of his eye, Horatio spotted a patch of color. It was Ryan's discarded sport jacket. "All right, Mr. Wolfe, here's what we're going to do. We are going to press your coat around the wound to try and slow the bleeding." He stood up and retrieved the jacket. "This is going to hurt a little."

"Not as much, ow," Ryan swallowed, then licked his lips. "N-not as much as the dry cleaning bill."

Horatio smiled thinly, then tore one of the sleeves off the jacket. He pried Wolfe's hands aside, then worked carefully to lift Ryan's shirt upward so he could get a better look at what he was dealing with. His brows drew together into a deep frown as he caught sight of the deep contusions on the other man's ribcage. "Ryan..."

******

Eric, having returned a few minutes ago, had just handed Calleigh a coffee when his attention was drawn to the monitor. "What the hell?" Though the picture quality wasn't great, it was easy to see the mass of dark purple and black bruising that mottled Wolfe's stomach and ribcage. "There's no way the knife did all that! Those bruises are at least a couple of days old. What the hell happened to him?"

Calleigh nodded in response, carefully analyzing the data being presented to them. Eric was right; those bruises were far too dark and prominent to have been caused by the knife wound. No, Ryan had walked into the bank already sporting those bruises. He hadn't mentioned anything out of the ordinary and there was only one thing they hadn't talked about. And suddenly she knew.

******

Ryan rushed to speak before Horatio could say anything else. "It's not as bad as it looks, really. I was going to the doctor's tomorrow. 'm fine." He took a deep, hitching breath, then blinked a few times to clear his vision. "What time is it?"

"It's midnight."

For the first time, Wolfe looked down at himself, really looked. The sleeve hid the wound, but the fabric itself was already soaked with his blood. One thought persisted in his mind. _Four hours. Four hours. Four hours to go_.

******

TBC.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks again for all the awesome feedback!

******

"He's still conscious," Calleigh said, "I can't make out what he's saying, but they're definitely talking."

Eric was pacing back and forth, but his eyes never left the screen. "I should have gone in there. He should never have--"

"Ryan volunteered." Calleigh interrupted. "There was no way to tell that one of the suspects was still inside. We didn't even know there was a third man."

Eric nodded; she was right of course, but that didn't make him feel any better. He fell into a miserable silence. There wasn't even a crime scene to process now; he had nothing to distract him from his thoughts.

"The Russians." Calleigh's voice startled Eric; unfortunately, he'd already come to the same conclusion. He was surprised at how angry she'd become. "They threatened us and then we couldn't get a hold of Ryan and then what?" She shook her head in disgust. "We went home and we went to sleep? How could we do that? One of our own... Ryan ... Ryan was missing and we didn't even look for him. How could we do that? She dropped into a chair, resting her head in her hands. "And _he_ apologized to _us_ just now."

Eric couldn't deny that she was right; hell the same thoughts had been running through his mind ten times over. Still, his first instinct was to offer her some comfort. "We didn't have any way of knowing, Calleigh," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He said that his cell phone had died, he showed up for work on time and we couldn't see the bruises..."

"We saw the split lip," Calleigh stood up, shaking off his touch. "We saw the missing tooth. He tried to explain and we chose not to listen. That isn't anyone's fault but ours."

******

The scene was processed and the room impeccable; there was nothing for him to do but sit back and watch Ryan bleed. The first sleeve was soaked through; now drops of blood glided slowly down Wolfe's side and had begun pooling on the floor. Horatio ripped the other sleeve off and placed on top of the first one. Caine knew it was only a matter of time before that one got covered as well ... unfortunately, time was the one thing they had far too much of.

"The knife." Ryan's voice startled Horatio out of his dark thoughts.

"What was that?"

"The knife," Ryan coughed hoarsely, his body jerked with it. "You didn't dust the knife for prints."

"That can wait, Mr. Wolfe," Horatio told him, cocking his head slightly. "I don't want to disturb it. The prints can wait."

"But they could..."

"Ryan, look over there." He gestured to the camera. "It was caught on tape, the evidence won't be in doubt and you know what else? Calleigh and Eric are there right now." It was a bit of a gamble, but Horatio knew his people well.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Horatio fell silent when he noticed that Ryan was looking at the camera.

"I'm sorry, I--" Ryan fell into another coughing fit, more intense than the first. When it stopped, he looked at Horatio once again. "H, you gotta-" he licked his lips. "You have to tell them that I didn't... that I had to..." He reached out, grasping Horatio's wrist tightly. "Please."

Caine's first instinct was to reassure him once more, but as he looked down at their hands, now both bloodied, the words died on his tongue. He looked into the other man's eyes and nodded once. "I'll tell them, Ryan."

Wolfe nodded, then his head tilted to the side slightly, his eyes focused on nothing. "Is it getting cold in here?"

Without a word, Horatio slipped off his own jacket and draped it over the younger man's shoulders. "Ryan," he said firmly. "Ryan you're going into shock. It's very important that you listen to me. I need you to stay awake, okay? Do you understand?"

There was a long moment of silence. "I'm kinda thirsty, aren't you? We've been in here a long time, right?"

"Ryan," Horatio grabbed the younger man's chin, forcing him to make eye contact. "Ryan, promise me you'll stay awake." He brushed away the beads of sweat that dotted Ryan's forehead. Shock, now infection ... and too much time before that door would open.

"Promise," Ryan murmured.

******

Delko sighed heavily and looked down at his watch. Sunlight glinted off the surface and it caught him off guard. He looked out the window and saw the first hint of sunlight creeping up over the horizon. He looked at his watch, then back at Calleigh. "One more hour."

She nodded and the mask of cool professionalism slipped back into place. "We can't afford to waste any time. I'll call the hospital and apprise them. You call the ambulance and have the paramedics standing by."

"Right," he said quickly, pulling out his cell phone once again and starting to dial. After so many hours of helplessness, it felt good to finally be doing something to help his friends. He just hoped it wasn't too late.

The moment he hung up the phone, the silence began to weigh on him again. Eric couldn't take the sound of Ryan's breathing. He had to say something, even if it was unpleasant. "He bought me a coffee this morning," Delko's voice was softer now, though his fists remained tightly clenched. "I blew him off and just kept walking and now..." He trailed off with a deep sigh.

"Ryan is going to be fine; he's got Horatio in there with him." Calleigh patted Eric's arm; but as she glanced over at the clock, she could only hope that Wolfe didn't make a liar out of her.

******

The colour had slowly drained from Ryan's face and on to the floor. Sweat dripped freely down his forehead, but he clung to the jacket around his shoulders with his free hand.

"It won't be much longer now, Mr. Wolfe." When he received no response, Horatio raised his tone. "Ryan, you need to try and stay awake."

Ryan coughed weakly, and then looked up at the ceiling. "What time is it ... Mr. Wolfe?" He gritted his teeth, then let out a soft moan. "Must ...I probably got asked that a thousand times growing up, you know? Got... got so sick of it." He chuckled, weakly, and closed his eyes. "Who's afraid of the big, bad Wolfe? D-didn't hear that one as much."

Horatio gritted his teeth, placing his hand over Ryan's to apply even more pressure. He forced himself to ignore the younger man's groan of agony. Both sleeves were soaked through and the blood was warm and sticky on his hands. "You're going to be fine, Ryan. Help will be here any minute now. You have to keep talking."

"H?" Ryan murmured.

"Yes, Ryan?"

"I'm afraid."

Horatio pressed his hand down more tightly. "I understand that, Mr. Wolfe, but..." He lifted his gaze, just as Ryan's eyes began to roll back in his head. "Ryan? Ryan, wake up. Ryan, you have to fight." He grasped Wolfe's shoulder and shook him as hard as he dared. "Listen to me right now. Ryan!"

******

We're nearing the end *g*

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Whew, we're up to the last part. Thanks to everyone for the kind feedback.

Disclaimer and distribution notes in Part I.

******

The bank manager was poised over the keypad; sweat poured down his face and his weight constantly shifted from foot to foot. He looked about as stressed and sleepless as Eric felt. Delko wanted to snap at the man to hurry up, but punching in the code now would be useless. They had to wait another seven seconds, even though it felt more like a week. The paramedics looked anxious too; the sirens were still blaring outside. Hell, even the coroner looked tense.

Eric nearly jumped when the manager started punching in the code. "Come on, come on," he murmured under his breath. "You're not going out like this, Wolfe."

At last, the massive door began to open. Eric, the manager and the coroner rushed to push it open faster. The paramedics ran inside as Horatio called out to them.

It went against his every instinct, but Eric stepped aside and stood next to Calleigh. Right now he would only get in the way and Ryan couldn't afford that right now. Without meaning to, he reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it.

Calleigh took a deep, shaky breath and held Eric's hand as tightly as she could. She felt like she'd just run a marathon.

Moments later, the paramedics were rushing back out, shouting vital signs back and forth to each other. Eric only caught a glimpse of Ryan's face, but he didn't like what he saw. His skin was ashen and had a waxy sheen to it.

Horatio was a few steps behind the EMTs. He never took his eyes off the gurney, but he stopped in front of the other two CSIs. "He lost consciousness about four minutes ago, but he's still breathing on his own. I'm going to ride with him." Without another word, Caine slipped into the back of the ambulance.

"I'll give you two a lift," Eric's head snapped around at the sound of Tripp's voice. He hadn't even seen the big detective enter.

"Thanks," Calleigh nodded, starting out with him.

Eric took one last look at the vault, then left.

******

The trip to the hospital was a complete blur for Calleigh. For the life of her, she couldn't remember if anything was said or not. But that didn't matter right now. All she was concerned with was finding out how Ryan was doing. She rushed down the hallway until she came upon Horatio. His back was to them and, as always, his body language was impossible to read. "Horatio, how is he?"

"The doctor hasn't come out yet, but Mr. Wolfe is still fighting."

"Oh thank god," She breathed, dropping on to a bench. The thought of Ryan struggling for so long only to lose now tore at her. When Eric arrived, she scooted aside to make room for him. Tripp remained standing.

"When the time comes," Horatio said after a long moment, "You will both owe Mr. Wolfe an apology."

Of all the things Tripp had expected to hear, that wasn't one of them. "What're you doing, Horatio?"

"Frank," Horatio looked over his shoulder. "I... am keeping a promise." He returned his attention to Eric and Calleigh. "Two nights ago, Ryan was abducted by the Russian mob. They attempted to torture him until he agreed to destroy evidence. When that failed, they kidnapped a child and held him hostage. He concealed the evidence until he was sure the boy was safe."

"H, we didn't know." Eric shook his head.

"Now you do, Eric." Horatio took off his shades. "Now you do."

"Detective?"

Horatio turned to face the woman who had spoken. She was wearing a pristine lab coat, but the scrubs underneath were splattered with blood. "Yes, Doctor?"

She put her hands in her pockets. "The bottom line is that he lost a lot of blood. The knife nicked his spleen, but we were able to save it. He's got an infection, but we've put him on some powerful antibiotics and that should take care of it quickly. He's also got three cracked ribs. In the end, he's going to be off his feet for at least two weeks, but he should make a complete recovery." She nodded soberly. "I can't begin to tell you how lucky he was, a few more minutes and he wouldn't have made it. We've moved him into a recovery room."

Horatio nodded, "Thank you."

After the doctor excused herself, Eric stood up. "H, I'm going to sit with him."

"Me too," Calleigh said quickly. "After everything that's happened, we owe it to him."

"Come on, Horatio, I'll give you a lift." Frank said. "You need to get some rest and besides, Wolfe's in good hands."

Horatio watched as Calleigh and Eric entered Ryan's room. He was asleep, so they took great pains to place their chairs on either side of him and sit down without making any noise.

"That he is, Frank." Caine put his shades back on. "That he is."

THE END

Well, I hope you all had as much fun reading this as I did writing it.

Cath


End file.
